One approach for fabricating semiconductor devices is to process the devices while they are bonded to the top of a handle wafer. After the devices are formed, they are released from the handle wafer with etchants. This etching process usually takes a long time (e.g., 30 minutes to hours). Due to the long etching time, some of the devices that have already been released from the handle wafer may adhere to each other or re-adhere to the handle wafer at the end of the etching process.
In some approaches, silicon handle wafers are used to process silicon-based devices. These handle wafers are typically consumed by the process of growing and forming the devices. Some of the handle wafers need to be destroyed after the release of the devices. Replacing these handle wafers increases the cost of device processing. In some other approaches, silicon devices are processed on handle wafers that are made of metal and/or ceramics. These metal and/or ceramic handle wafers usually do not yield high quality crystalline silicon.